{SE} I thought I was done with lectures

A panther in the night, a fire burning bright. Ray glanced back at Milo. She could tell he was reluctant to approach the shadow. She sighed and tried to explain her reasoning, her voice steady and reassuring. "Listen. If we don't deal with it, someone else will have to. And I don't know about you but I trust my skills in a fight more than I trust some random civilian who's never seen even held a knife. I plan to at least get a closer look just to get an idea of what it is. Alright?" Ray continued her cautious approach. She stopped about 5 feet away from the waterline, the shadow just beyond that. Ray never let her eyes wander from the thing, she didn't want to risk missing any movements or aggressive actions. Peering at the apparition she tried to make sense of what or who it was. "Uh... Hello there." She greeted, feeling rather foolish to be speaking to a shadow. But if it was sentient she didn't want to insulting it  by assuming otherwise. r a y The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion. —Albert Camus